Acceptance (Draw your portal challenge)

This is my submission for Ross's "Draw your portal" l challenge. And it was a big challenge indeed, emotionally. This project reflects something that's hard to put into words, and I wanted to be upfront about it. We all like to show our highlights, but rarely talk about what happens behind the scenes.

I've never said this out loud and it might not be obvious on the outside, but I've always been highly sensitive and silently carried pain throughout most of my life, in different forms. This year has been especially difficult for me so far. But it's something I want to work on. In a way, creating this character was also an attempt to alleviate at least some of my spiritual burden, both as an artist and person. We're all human, and we all carry something that weighs on us at some point, whether we admit it or not. The character uses a normal paint brush, but specifically for the color red, she can use her own hand as paint.

Thank you, Ross, for this inspiring challenge; to my friends and all artists out there for their bravery; and to my favorite band for always supporting me emotionally through all of life's rollercoasters.

In a world where everyone constantly pretends and hides behind a mask, I encourage you to be more open and vulnerable from time to time, both with yourself and others. We need realness now more than ever.

I decided to name her Estra - a derivative from a word for "star".